First Allied Airborne Army

The First Allied Airborne Army was an Allied formation formed on 2 August 1944 by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Allied commander in Europe. The army controlled all Allied airborne forces in Western Europe from August 1944 to May 1945, and it included American, British, and Polish airborne infantry. The army notably took part in Operation Market Garden, the Battle of the Bulge, and Operation Varsity, and the army was deactivated on 20 May 1945, twelve days after the final German surrender. The British units returned to Britain, while the American forces were sent to occupy Berlin.